Elite Four Caitlin: Reliving an Adventure

For my entry, I have chosen to write about Caitlin, from the Sinnoh/Johto Battle Frontier and Unova Elite Four! This is the story of how she went from a helpless little girl to one of the greatest trainers in Unova. I hope you guys enjoy!

Edit: Thank you for such a ridiculously fast feature! And sorry about the weird notification, haha.

Childhood

Caitlin always knew she was different.

Growing up, she spent every waking moment outside of her private tutoring sessions sneaking to the arena to watch trainers take the Battle Castle challenge. She gazed wistfully from the sidelines as Pokemon clashed while trainers strategized, dreaming of becoming a powerful trainer as well. But she knew she couldn't.

Caitlin could not remember what caused her first outburst as a child. Her parents said it was because she saw her mother lose a Pokemon battle. What she did remember was the feeling. She had always felt...something inside her, something strong and scary she didn't have the words to explain. In this moment, anger, rage, and a deep feeling of unfairness shook her to her core, and she felt the thing inside of her awaken. Her hands balled into fists and her muscles tensed, and her breathing became heavy and erratic. It was overwhelming. Her tiny body couldn't contain it all, and she felt the air around her shake an vibrate, radiating further and further out, envelopping everything around her. She felt it extend to chairs, tables, lamps, paintings on the wall, everything. She felt the entire room shake with her fury, and she could feel it elevating her as she revelled in it. For a moment, there was nothing but Caitlin's wild, unrestrained anger, coursing through her and engulfing everything around her.

Then someone screamed, heads turned, and people were staring at her wide-eyed. Suddenly, she was overwhelmed with fear and shame. She felt her feet and knees hit the carpet, and heard chairs and tables topple and lamps crash to the ground. Her parents rushed over and held her in their arms, shouting commands at the servants. Amid all the chaos, she fell asleep.

After that, her parents started making her see yet another tutor. They said he was supposed to help her control her powers, but she hated his lessons and she hated him. She threw tantrums until they got her a new tutor, but she hated this one, too, and would make them find someone new. This pattern continued for years, with her parents struggling to find a teacher who would take on their daughter, and who she in turn would not reject.

Throughout this time, she continued to have outbursts, usually brought on from losing or watching someone she loved lose. Caitlin couldn't even play a game of chess or cricket, for every loss enraged her and brought on another outburst. They were always the same; consumed by anger at a loss, the air around the small girl would vibrate in a sphere around her, growing in size and intensity. Nearby objects would float off the ground, and she would raise in the air as well, her hair streaming wildly about her. In especially intense outbursts, the walls and floor and ceiling would shake, and nearby windows would shatter. It took someone, usually her parents or a teacher, to calm her down, at which point everything would drop to the ground, including Caitlin, and she would fall into a deep sleep.

Eventually, her parents banned her from even watching Pokemon battles. Devastated, Caitlin didn't want to miss out on her favourite pastime, so she resorted to watching them in secret. She snuck out to observe battles from a hiding spot in the small space under the platform where her mother oversaw battles, staying as quiet and still as she could. She still got angry when her mother lost a battle, but she learned she had to make sure she didn't have an outburst so she wouldn't be discovered and lose her hiding spot. It took some practice, amd a lot of restraint, but by age 9, she could watch her mother lose and without making everything around her float. Still, she didn't tell her parents, or her current teacher.

Pre-Teens

On her tenth birthday, her teacher gave her a present. "You've made some great progress with your psychic training. I spoke to your parents, and they agreed to let me give you this gift." Caitlin was eager to rip open the box, but her parents were insisting she act more like a lady now that she was older, so she undid the bow carefully, and gently opened the box to see a shiny new Pokeball. Her eyes lit up.

"I thought they were scared of letting me battle," she murmured as she picked the ball up.

"You won't be battling just yet. This is to help you with your training," her teacher replied. "Go on, open it."

Puzzled, but still unable to contain her excitement, Caitlin pressed the button on the Pokeball, and in a flash of white light, a small, grey feline with huge, round eyes, appeared before her.

"Wow!" Caitlin cried, getting closer to the bizarre Pokemon to get a better look. The cat took a step back and stared back warily. Realizing she had spooked it, she backed up to give it some space and gave it a gentle wave. The Pokemon cocked its head and waved back with a tiny paw. She had never seen a Pokemon like this before.

"That's Espurr," her teacher said, as if reading her mind. "She's a psychic-type Pokemon capable of releasing immense psychic power from her organs located under her ears, here," she said, indicating the edge of a yellow ring poking out from beneath Espurr's ear. "They use their ears to dampen their psychic powers while they learn to control them. I believe she would make an excellent training partner for you, and you two can learn much from one another."

Caitlin's teacher turned out to be right. Just having Espurr around made her feel calmer. In the coming months, they ate and slept and played together, but they would also meditate and practice honing their psychic powers together under her teacher's direction.

When she realized that Espurr got upset when Caitlin's emotions were high, she made an effort to not let herself get worked up. It made a huge difference for the both of them. As they got closer, the two realized they could attune themselves to the other's emotions, and sometimes even communicate their emotions that way. Eventually, they were even able to share thoughts and ideas with each other, too.

But one of the most important changes was how Caitlin started to deal with situations that used to make her feel stressed, or anxious, or angry. She saw how, when Espurr was upset, she would close her eyes and hold her ears in her paws, pressing them against the sides of her head. Caitlin started to imagine having a pair of big, fluffy ears of her own, and when she was upset or angry, she would fold them over the sides of her head, wrapping her in a warm embrace to calm herself down. She would take long, deep breaths, untense her muscles, and focus. And it worked.

Caitlin's outbursts had reduced in both frequency and intensity. She stopped watching Pokemon battles in secret - instead, she sat where all could see the once recluse girl with her Espurr partner observing battles. She could now lose a game of chess without throwing a tantrum, as long as her friend was by her side.

When she turned 12, Caitlin's parents decided their daughter was ready to become a Pokemon trainer, so she would be prepared to become the new head of the Battle Castle once her mother retired as a Frontier Brain. Little did they know, Caitlin had already started her training in secret.

Training with Espurr had given Caitlin a newfound respect for psychic-type Pokemon, and she decided she wanted to be a psychic-type specialist. Her parents gifted her the Pokemon she had asked for, and she began training Solosis and Gothita alongside Espurr on the Battle Castle grounds. It did not take long for Espurr to evolve into Meowstic thanks to their previous training, however the cat-like Pokemon decided she wasnt interested in sparring, and instead stayed by her trainer's side during training sessions.

Caitlin looked forward to taking on her mother's position as a Frontier Brain. She finished her studies early every day so she could have extra time to train her growing team. They couldn't leave the Castle grounds unattended, and it would not be proper of her to battle trainers, but thankfully they had ample resources to train in the castle.

However, when the day came at age 14 for her mother to pass on her title, it was announced that Darach, a valet at the castle, would do all of the battling. Caitlin would observe the battles, judge the challengers and award them points, but that was all. She wouldn't get to battle a single trainer.

Caitlin tried to be satisfied, but she was devastated. She was close enough to taste the heat of a battle, yet she wasn't allowed to participate. All of their training had been for nothing.

Darach was a lovely young man who clearly cared for her, but she was immensely jealous of him. It made her so angry sometimes that she might have had an outburst if not for Meowstic at her side helping her stay calm. And besides, if she had an outburst now, her parents would certainly never let her battle as a Frontier Brain. Perhaps if she continued to behave, they would let her battle.

That time never came. Caitlin waited two long years in Darach's shadow in the hopes that by playing the obedient daughter, she would be rewarded. Eventually, Caitlin had had enough. By 16, she realized her parents would never see her as anything but a little girl, struggling to control herself. She had to go out and forge her own path.

Teens

Caitlin chose Unova because it was the least like Sinnoh or Johto. And it was far away - too far to allow her to turn back, even if she wanted to.

Before they left, she registered Meowstic as an emotional support Pokemon. While she would not battle, Meowstic provided invaluable support for her mental health. And there was no way she would go on her trainer journey without her best friend.

Together, they travelled the region, collecting gym badges and building their team of psychic Pokemon along the way. Many of the trainers they encountered were younger and had less training experience, but they also had sparring experience that Caitlin lacked. Caitlin lost to much younger trainers, and it was a struggle to control herself at times. But she was older now, and she had Meowstic by her side, so she didn't have outbursts.

During their journey, Caitlin met many sorts of people she would never have encountered had she stayed at the Battle Castle. She faced real challenges now that she was no longer being coddled by people who were afraid of her at the Battle Castle. Her Unova journey helped her to really grow, both as a trainer and as a person. And people noticed.

Young Adult

By the end of her journey, Caitlin accomplished the challenge that few had; she collected eight badges, and even defeated the Elite Four. There wasn't much left to do in Unova after that. The Battle Tree was child's play, and she distinguished herself even more at the Pokemon World Tournament. She was starting to worry she would soon have to return to the Battle Castle, and be forced to watch Darach fight her battles while she remained on the sidelines.

However, what she didn't know what that the elite trainers of Unova were watching her triumph at the PWT. When Caitlin received the invitation to join the Elite Four, she was floored. The best of the best had seen and recognized her hard work and talent, and wanted her to join their ranks.

Caitlin was eager to accept, but she knew she had to take care of her mental health. A condition of her acceptance was to be able to bring Meowstic with her, and to be able to take as many sick days as she needed.

The Unova League happily accepted, and Caitlin moved to the league headquarters. She began accepting challengers immediately, and she loved it. She got to battle the best of the best, and bond with her fellow Elite Four members as equals. At first, she was worried that losing in such an intense environment would bring on another outburst. When her first defeat eventually came, thanks to Meowstic at her side, she was able to keep it under control.

With her first paycheck, she bought a villa in Undella Town. When the pressure of being an Elite trainer got to be too much, she could suspend her challenges and retreat to the lovely seaside town.

As she became friends with other female Elite Four and Gym Leaders, she invited them to her villa with her. They formed wonderful friendships, and together they took time off to rest, relax, and recharge.

Caitlin visited home sometimes. Everyone was so proud of her, but she felt like they still saw her as the same helpless little girl. While she loved seeing her parents and teachers and friends, she always felt a little better when she returned to the Unova League. There, they respected her, and treated her as an equal in spite of her differences. With them, and with her Pokemon beside her, Caitlin knew she could handle anything.

That is the entirety of my entry! Thank you so much to those who read all the way through, I know it was long! I have had this backstory floating in my head for awhile, and I'm really proud of the result!

All images are from the animé, manga, or from official artists and merchandise promotions.

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